


Triple Shot with a Side of Embarrassment

by Cup_aTea



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: M/M, Meet-Cute, Shield ops create angst, mostly - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-18
Updated: 2015-10-18
Packaged: 2018-04-27 00:24:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5026516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cup_aTea/pseuds/Cup_aTea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Agent Coulson and Agent Barton meet in Shield's favorite coffeeshop when they grab the wrong drinks.  Even Hawkeye misses things once in a while.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Triple Shot with a Side of Embarrassment

**Author's Note:**

> I was at a coffee shop this morning and it was incredibly busy. So this little thing happened. It's unbeta'd, so let me know if you catch anything.
> 
> Disclaimer: I have never tried Phil's drink, and I'm not sure I'd recommend it to anyone. You've been warned. Characters belong to Marvel.

Phil grabbed his coffee with a sigh of relief. The coffee shop was busy and the noise was making his head spin. He’d been up all night analyzing a report on the Bolivia op that had just finished, and there was still plenty of work to do. He’d meant to get to the coffee shop as soon as it opened, but when he’d looked up at the clock, it was an hour too late. So he ended up getting there at the same time as the morning crowd, half of which were probably SHIELD employees. After waiting in line for five minutes to order and then waiting for his drink to be made, it was relief to hear his name called.

Three drinks came up at once, and he smiled briefly at the barista as she pushed one in his direction. He took a sip, ready for the sugary rush of the triple shot flavored drink that he had ordered—and coughed when hot, extra strong espresso hit his taste buds.

“Fuck!” said a voice to his left.

Phil turned to see a man ( _white, early thirties, dark blond hair, alert stance, slender through the waist, wide shoulders_ ) holding a drink away from his body with a look that Phil was sure mirrored his own.

“Wrong drink?” Phil asked.

“No kidding,” the man said. He looked at how Phil was holding his drink and spun the cup that was in his own hand. “Are you Phil, by any chance?”

“Clint?”

“Ugh yeah.”

They swapped drinks and lids, and Clint said, “I’m sorry man, I don’t know how I missed that. Honestly though, I don’t know how you can drink that stuff. What even is in that?”

Only years of secret agent training suppressed Phil’s blush as they both turned towards the door.

“It’s a twelve ounce triple shot with white chocolate, caramel, and coconut.” Clint was staring at him incredulously. “I only order it when I’ve had a stressful day and I need to keep working,” Phil said defensively.

“Well, I hope you have a good dental plan,” the guy said as they left the shop.

Phil nodded cordially, figuring that was the end of it, and turned towards SHIELD. To his surprise, Clint did as well.

They paused and appraised each other again.

“SHIELD?” Phil asked.

“SHIELD,” Clint confirmed.

They started walking again, and the pieces clicked into place in Phil’s brain. 

“Clint Barton. Specialist Level 4?”

“Yeah,” Clint said. “Phil, uh…”

“Phil Coulson.”

“Holy shit,” Clint said, eyes widening. “You’re the guy they passed the post op too.”

“Yeah, I’ve been working on it all night,” Phil said. “I think we have a debrief later.”

“We do. That’s the only reason I’m out of bed so soon. The flight back was terrible.” Clint’s face was grim.

The Agent-in-charge, Williamson, had gone off protocol and as a result one of the agents on the ground—Agent Martinez—had to be med evac’d and the mission cut short. She was still in surgery and the outcome was uncertain.

“We’ll be talking about it later, I promise,” Phil said. Phil had been analyzing the mission all night, and every agent was going to be debriefed intensely.

Clint studied his face for a moment. “Good.”

He looked Phil over once more. “So you only drink those after a long day, huh?”

“Yeah. I usually just take my coffee black, maybe a little cream and sugar. Jasper gives me so much shit whenever he catches me drinking these. But sometimes I just need the pick-me-up.”

They parted ways at SHIELD and only saw each other later at Barton’s debrief. Phil didn’t see Clint again for a week, when Williamson’s status as an agent was officially revoked and he was placed in detention pending Martinez’ recovery. Clint arrived in his office that day with two drinks in a coffee carrier. He pulled out one for himself and offered the other to Phil. It was a black coffee with creamer and sugar nestled inside the carrier. Phil took it gratefully and they sat and talked for a while until Clint had to leave for a meeting.

Clint appeared two weeks after that on the day Agent Martinez died in the ICU and Williamson’s case was reopened. Phil had already made calls to the Martinez family and written up his formal statement for her official record. He had moved on to writing up the new charges for Williamson’s case. He had been working for about fifteen hours straight when Clint turned up a little after 11pm carrying two drinks and sliding one across the desk to Phil. Phil took a sip, expecting the hot bitter taste of plain coffee, but instead it was sweet, more sugar than coffee. It was the exact drink he had described to Clint almost a month ago, and the taste was bittersweet.

They sat there in silence and drank. Clint moved to the couch once they were finished with drinks. He quietly kept Phil company, and when four a.m. rolled around, he coaxed Phil to take his place on the couch. Phil’s eyes closed as soon as he lay down, but as he drifted off he thought he felt Clint drape a blanket over him before he left.


End file.
